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Want to swap Turbo engine using NA distributor


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I'm pretty sure the #6 cyl. rings went south Friday night while running the car at the track. It is an 81 NA engine that is turbocharged. I do have a spare 1983 turbo engine, but w/out the ECU, wiring harness, etc. I would like to do a quick swap of the NA engine with this turbo engine to get the car running right again. There are three questions I need answered, and I hope you guys can help out.

 

Need to know if the distributor/oil pump shaft out of the NA engine will fit in the turbo block and run the NA distributor.

 

If the NA flywheel will bolt onto the turbo engine.

 

The turbo engine has been sitting in my garage for a few years, and the camshaft has surface rust on it. What steps should I take to lube up the block to get it back into running condition?

 

The car is pretty fast, and I only got to enjoy it for about a week :evil:

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Guest bastaad525

The car is pretty fast' date=' and I only got to enjoy it for about a week :evil:[/quote']

 

Welcome to my life!!! :evil::cry::evil::cry:

 

Trust me I KNOW this feeling.... except for I've been thru that like 10 times over! anyways, to try to answer your questions:

 

Yes you can and will need to use the distributor/oil pump shaft out of your N/A motor if you intend to run the N/A dizzy in the turbo motor. It wouldn't be a bad idea to try to recurve the distributors advance curve, it's actually very easy to do and shouldn't cost you anything or maybe a couple dollars for some JB weld (that's what I used to do mine)... you probably want less total advance than what the stock N/A dizzy allows. Or you can just run the MSD unit that retards timing on boost. You don't HAVE to do either one, but I would.

 

Yes the N/A flywheel will bolt to the turbo motor, however, if your flywheel is still the stock flywheel it is most likely the smaller one... the turbo runs a larger flywheel, I believe it's 225mm vs. 240mm I could be wrong on the numbers though. Of course you have to run the right clutch for the right sized flywheel... I guess the smaller clutch/flywheel dont have as much grip as well. But yeah you can definatley run it. It may be a non issue because a lot of people switch over to the turbo/2+2 flywheel at some point in the cars life if they were at all building up performance, so you may already have the larger flywheel.

 

Not sure what to do about the rusty cam.

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Thanks for the advice bastaad. I think I am fine with the stock set timing I had. Not once did the car ping on me, ever (and I know what detonation sounds like from driving my dad's v6 Dakota). I do have an MSD 6AL to put in though. I've seen your earlier posts in relation to the smoke coming from the PCV. Ever figure out a solution on where to route the hoses, or did you just leave the breathers on? I had the same problem, and smoke would start belching out even more when it was on boost, and I contribute that to the oil getting too hot. I believe that was the beginning of the end, I just didn't know it yet! The bronze tube on the side of the block, it blew that thing out of there, and oil was spewing all over the engine bay :twisted: A friend recommended me to get a catch can for routing the PCV into the intake, but its too late now!

 

I've also contemplated doing a rebuild of the NA block with forged pistons, but I won't be able to afford that until after summer. The only thing I'm afraid of on using this turbo engine is that it has been sitting too long, and if I try to start it, the rings might break as did the other engine. It is the cheapest and quickest way though...

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Guest bastaad525

Well... When bought my 240, this thing had been sitting in this guys garage for 13 years, untouched... a project he started and never finished. I towed it home, stuck a new fuel pump and battery in it, and I kid you not after about 30 seconds it fired up... blew the biggest cloud of smoke, sputtered a bit, and commenced to idling fine. The motor actually ran okay for the couple days I drove it before yanking it. I think you'rs should be okay... you want to take a few precautions before starting it. One thing I think would be a good idea is to spray some marvel mystery oil or other similar cleaning/lubricating stuff into the cylinders and let them sit for a while, maybe a couple days. This may help if the rings are binding to the cylinder walls. Also, trying to turn the crank manually with a breaker bar might be a good idea just to see if it's gonna move at all. I really dont know what to do about the rust...

 

If you have the motor, no harm in at least trying to use it, what's it gonna cost you except for your time... it will either run or it wont, right? Knowing how hard these engines are to kill I think you'd be fine and after it warms up the first time it will be okay. I bought and sold another turbo engine that some guy had sitting OUTSIDE, UNCOVERED, for well over a year. The person who bought it from me checked back in to let me know his progress... apparently there was a lot of water in the block (uh oh I'm thinking... blown head gasket?? nope, ended up being just rain water from the motor sitting outside) and a more than a few gaskets needed to be replaced, and compression was dreadfully low when I first tested it in all cylinders, but even... anyways he cleaned it up, replaced the gaskets, pulled the oil pan and cleaned inside the block, put new oil etc. and got it running... after the first few miles he says it magically 'came back to life' and another compression test showed much improved compression... engine was running great. He's had no problems in the ~6 months since.

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